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Gender Questions

Gender Questions is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed research journal that publishes high quality articles on all aspects of gender studies, including feminist research, masculinity studies and studies into alternative sexualities. Gender Questions seeks to contribute to South African knowledge production about gender by providing a forum for serious scholarship and rigorous theoretical engagement with Gender Studies.
Published under the auspices of the Institute of Gender Studies, University of South Africa.
Publisher | UNISA Press |
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Frequency | Annually |
Coverage | Vol 1 Issue 1 2013 - current |
Accreditation(s) |
Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) |
Language | English |
Journal Status | Active |
Collection(s) |
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Elderly fathers in Russia after divorce : gender differences in the intergenerational transfers
Regarding the aging population, the question of care and financial support of the elderly becomes increasingly relevant. At the same time, the rise of divorce and separation becomes a very strong trend in modern society. Due to the absence of joint custody in Russia, the connection between fathers and children weakens after divorce and in this context the research question is: Do children help their elderly fathers after divorce, and what is the gender specificity in upward transfers after divorce? The object of this study is to examine the transfers that elderly Russian men and women receive from their children. This research is based on data from the “Comprehensive Monitoring of Living Conditions of the Population” conducted in Russia in 2014. The target sample consisted of 113 000 persons over 15 years old—37 787 of which were over retirement age. The survey covered all regions of the Russian Federation. The method used in this analysis is mainly descriptive statistics and correlation tables. According to the results there is a considerable gap between elderly men and women in getting help from their children due to weakened connections between children and their fathers after divorce. This problem can be solved by developing institutions of social protection, but unfortunately such institutions in Russia have not yet been sufficiently developed.
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Caring masculinities and flexibilisation of labour markets : fathers in precarious and managerial employment in Slovenia
The starting point of this article is that the transition from breadwinning to involved fathering is not only a matter of changing men’s identities, but is profoundly shaped by broader societal structures, among which labour markets appear as crucial. Given that in Slovenia flexibilisation of the labour markets is a salient issue, this qualitative study, based on explorative, in-depth, semi-structured, individual interviews with fathers in precarious and managerial employment, analyses how insecure and flexible work arrangements shape fatherhood practices, impact on chances of being an involved father and structure gender relations. Narratives of fathers in managerial positions point to the persistence of the breadwinner model of fathering with limited participation in childcare, expressed as “weekend fatherhood,” but also to a more egalitarian share of childcare,mainly among young fathers in managerial positions. Though the experiences of fathers in precarious employment point to their pronounced involvement in childcare, some cases in our sample indicate that precarious working relations can also, in a perverse way, lead to the strengthening of the breadwinner model and re-traditionalisation of gender relations.
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Family as the main caregivers during child delivery in resource-poor settings of Nasarawa State, Nigeria
This article drew from a population-based survey of 413 women to determine the proportion of births assisted by the family in resource-poor areas of Nasarawa State. “Resource-poor settings” was defined as rural communities without access to health facilities. This exploratory study utilised a two-stage cluster random sampling technique to select 413 houses where questionnaires were administered to women who had given birth in the five years preceding the study. Simple descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the study data. The analysis reveals gross inequality in access to skilled birth facilities during childbirth in Nasarawa State. Births at home were common in rural areas among women of low socio-economic status who were illiterate. In resource-poor settings (where health facilities were unavailable), the family played a substantial role in child delivery. Specifically, while doctors and nurses attended to about 90 per cent of all births in resource-rich settings (where health facilities are available), the family members took delivery of 51.5 per cent of all births in resource-poor settings. Family members or relatives delivered the majority of the births that took place at home (61.6%). The traditional birth attendants assisted only 11.5 per cent of births within resource-poor settings, compared to only two per cent within resource-rich settings. The findings emphasised that the role of the family in caregiving during childbirth is not limited to providing social capital and emotional support but they also act as key caregivers, especially in resource-poor settings.
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Liberating Masculinities, Kopano Ratele
Judging by the spike in the number of publications on the topic of masculinities in southern Africa that we have seen in the past two decades (dating from 1998), it is fair to conclude that there has been marked attention paid to issues of masculinities. Kopano Ratele has been one of a number of scholars in southern Africa who pay great attention to masculinities as working models of being amongst various other gender models. Bringing together previously published essays in a single source, Liberating Masculinities provides readers access to the richly varied works of Ratele on masculinities in a single compendium. Admittedly though, for one familiar with Ratele’s oeuvre, there is not much new in the book per se. This is not, however, to disparage the book—it is good to see all the assembled essays in one place—but to specify its point of departure.
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The politics of belonging : exploring black African lesbian identity in South Africa
This article explores black African lesbian identity in South Africa and how lesbian women understand belonging. This is a contentious subject and is situated within a long history of heteronormativity and homophobia on the African continent, as well as the influences of colonialism and contemporary society. This history of heteronormativity and homophobia, combined with the Civil Union Act that gives South African lesbians and gays formal rights to marriage, has resulted in narratives in which contemporary black African women unravel the contradictions and emotions embedded in their struggles for belonging and identity in post-apartheid South Africa.
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“To Gay or not to Gay, that is the Question” : permeable boundaries between Public and Private spaces of gay male academics and students in South Africa
This article was informed by a study which focused on the identity construction and deconstruction of gay male participants, specifically as related to their academic lives. The findings originate from a 2012–2013 qualitative sociological study on the experiences of gay male academics and students on South African university campuses. The article reports on a subset of the data, since it provides an insightful account of these men’s navigation between their communal identification with other gay men in social and private contexts. The author argues that participants’ responses navigate between the heterosexualisation and the homosexualisation of these spaces, in an attempt to gravitate towards or distance themselves from a gay sensibility through temporary assimilation into “gay spaces” in order to negotiate their sexual agency.
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© Publisher: UNISA Press